A Tale of the Marauders
by NoraGirl
Summary: James' fifth year at Hogwarts should be a normal one. But with huge spiders, mysterious new girls, maps, Quidditch, and a score of other things, his life is anything but.
1. Chapter 1

A very pretty redhead woman—hardly more than a girl—tapped her wand on the edge of her desk. It was nearing the end of class and most of the students were talking and laughing with each other. When the gentle tapping had no effect on the class, the redhead made it emit banging noises.

"Focus, please!"

The entire class immediately fell silent, everyone's face solemn as they faced forward. Professor Merika eyed them sternly for a moment.

"Thank you," she said, giving them all a pretty smile. "I have an announcement to make. As you all know, Professor Delanor has stepped down as the Head of Gryffindor House, because he wishes to devote more time to Herbology. I am very honored to tell you that the Headmaster has asked me to fill the position. Dumbledore wanted to make the announcement himself, but he is unfortunately called away for the week."

"_You_ are the new Head of our House?" Sirius Black asked, thudding down the front two legs of his chair. Professor Merika was only twenty—she had graduated from Hogwarts only three years before, and had immediately pursued a teaching career. She was now halfway through her second year of teaching, and it was a surprise that she was chosen to be the Head of a House.

"Yes, Mr. Black." Professor Merika said, and Sirius shot his best friend, James Potter, a thumbs up and a wink.

The bell rang and Professor Merika dismissed them with a flick of her hand. Remus Lupin hurried to catch up with James and Sirius.

"Padfoot, whaddya think?" he asked, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"About what?" Sirius replied casually, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, gee, I don't know," Remus rolled his eyes, "You're going after Prof Merika. Whaddya think your chances are?"

"I'd say pretty good, Moony." Sirius winked at his friend. "I'm doing awful in Potions, aren't I? I think I need to take Remedial Potions."

"But, Sirius!" Remus protested, frowning. "It might mess up your O.W.L.s."

"Naw, I'll be fine. I'll bet Merika is a great tutor!"

All three laughed and continued on to their next class, Charms, in high spirits. Except for James. Idly he ruffled his, his thoughts in turmoil. Yesterday he'd seen someone—some girl—in the halls. She was slim and graceful, with glossy brown hair secured in a knot low on her neck. Her skin was the color of cappuccino and she had beautiful large hazel eyes. He couldn't recall ever seeing her before, and a casual inquiry of Remus revealed that she'd transferred from another school somewhere in America. James did not even know her name, but he found himself anxiously scanning the halls for a glimpse of her stunningly pretty face.

"Prongs? Hello?"

It was Sirius, tickling James's face with a feathery breeze from the end of his wand. James brought his mind back to what was happening. Their Charms professor had not arrived yet, and Peter Pettigrew had joined them. They were all looking at him a little strangely.

"I asked you—twice—what you want to do tonight. Moony and Wormtail don't care. I was thinking the Forbidden Forest?"

"Yeah, sure," James nodded, ruffling his hair again, "Sounds good."

Charms passed much the same as Potions, with James attempting a facade of normalcy with the other marauders. He did rather poorly on the charm they were doing, and a frowning Professor Flitwick assigned him extra homework at the end of class. Usually this would have bothered James, but today he just nodded and accepted it. Maybe if he did his homework in the library he would see the girl again.

"Excellent, we've got History of Magic now," Sirius said, rubbing his wand meaningfully. "With the Slytherins. I've got a wonderful little hex I want to try out on Snivellus. How 'bout you, James?"

"Right, Severus, er, Snivellus deserves it. I'll back you up with some good basic hexes," James replied, surprised to find himself saying what Sirius expected.

"You know, there's that pretty girl, what's her name, Lucy Evans?" Sirius winked at James. "I'll bet you'd have a good chance with her."

"I'd have a good chance with anyone, Padfoot." James replied, grinning. "I'm a damn good Chaser, I look great, I have fun, and I'm near the top of the class. Who wouldn't love me? I'll leave Evans to you—she's the redhead, right? She'd go great with Professor Merika."

The whole exchange was so normal, so usual. Sirius continued to joke and James continued to respond, James amazed that Sirius didn't notice something was wrong. Remus was muttering something to himself, a book open before him. What he was studying for, James had not a clue. Peter was just listening to Sirius and James, his mouth slightly open.

"I just forgot, I left that essay in the dormitory!" James lied, pretending to look through his bag. He suddenly felt that he couldn't breathe and the thought of trying to be friendly was more than he could handle. "Tell Binns where I am, he probably won't even notice I'm gone. Old crone, too bad he's already dead. Might make class interesting to have him keel over. Don't worry about me. Send Snivellus my regards."

Before anyone could say anything to him, James was sprinting away down the hall, up the stairs and down a corridor until at last he stood, panting slightly, before the Pink Lady. He gave her the password and clambered in. There was no one in the common room—everyone was at class, like he should be. He sighed and turned about, clambering back through the portrait hall. He arrived at History of Magic just as the bell rang.

"Before we get started today," Professor Binns said blandly, holding a piece of paper in front of him. He was simply reading it aloud to the class. What a bore. "I've been asked to introduce you to Miss Malia Lessknot. She is a new student here and I trust you will be of assistance to her. In 1756, the Convention of Underrepresented Witches was formed. The founding members were..."

James was not listening to Binns anymore as the ghost professor droned through his notes. He was too occupied staring at Miss Malia Lessknot. It was the beautiful girl he had been obsessed with for the past 24 hours. She was sitting in her seat, taking notes steadily, looking as gorgeous as ever. It took a moment for James to absorb what he was seeing. Malia was here, in History of Magic. Sitting on the other side of the room. She was not a Gryffindor. She was not a Ravenclaw. She was not even a Hufflepuff. Malia Lessknot, girl of his dreams, was a Slytherin.


	2. Chapter 2

"Malia!" James blurted out as soon as the bell rang. He had passed the entire class trying to think up excuses for why she was here. But when he saw her chatting with a blonde girl, Narcissa something, and then listening intently to a murmured comment by Severus Snape, James could no longer deny it. She was a Slytherin. Yet now he was going to talk to her.

"Yes?" Malia continued to put her things in her bag, but she was looking at James with those beautiful hazel eyes. James felt like they were the only two people in the world.

"I, you know, just wanted to welcome you to Hogwarts. I'm James Potter."

"Nice to meet you, James." Malia smiled, showing straight, white teeth. James ruffled his hair. "What class do you have now?"

"None. This was my last for the day. How about you?" He was sounding like an idiot. What was wrong with him? Usually he was so glib and smooth. Now he felt like he was no better with girls than Peter, who, incidentally, was with Sirius and Remus, waiting at the door.

"I don't have any more." She smiled again. James noticed that her voice was lilting and pleasant.

"That's good. Say, would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me? Our usual Christmas visit is tomorrow."

"I'd love to. I'll meet you in the entrance hall. See you then, James." Malia secured her bag, flipping aside the long brown hair that was flowing free today. A moment later she was gone, and James slowly became aware of talking.

"James!" Sirius patted his back. "That one's a looker. What were you guys talking about?"

James hesitated. For some reason this felt very private, very personal. Besides, Malia was a Slytherin, and the marauders detested everything Slytherin. For now he would keep quiet about anything to do with Malia Lessknot.

"Oh, she dropped her quill. She wanted to talk, but I didn't. Too bad it took so long, I mighta been able to catch up with Evans," James answered, hoping this sounded truthful. His friends were apparently convinced, for the topic of conversation moved on to something else.

The four marauders played Exploding Snap and wizard chess until it was fully dark out. Then Remus stood up, stretching and yawning. Sirius, James, and Peter all got to their feet, knowing what was coming next. Without saying anything, James ducked upstairs to get the Invisibility Cloak while Remus left to see Madame Pomfrey. Only a half an hour later, they were all in animal form at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. They had decided to go in deep tonight, deeper than they had before.

They pushed through the forest, farther in until it was blackly dark. Sirius sniffed the ground and shook his head. He didn't like this place. The others felt the same unease, but they continued onward. The forest began to lighten, some moonlight glinting off the snow covered branches and webs. Webs? The three larger animals all stopped, but Wormtail continued on, small enough to go under the webs. He did not escape the attention, however, of the gigantic spiders perched on the webs.

Lupin snarled and backed away, and Sirius barked three times, the signal for retreat. Abandoning all dignity, they fled back through the forest until they arrived at more familiar territory. Here they passed the night, wrestling with each other and playing strange animal games. Finally, the night was waning and the three illegal Animagi transformed and headed back to Gryffindor tower under the Invisibility Cloak. Lupin went back to the Shrieking Shack to wait for his transformation.

"Those spiders!" Peter moaned. "Huge!"

"Don't think about it," James said sharply. "Now I'm going to bed. I want to get some decent sleep. I don't think I'll be going to Hogsmeade."

"You okay?" Sirius asked and James nodded.

"Just tired. G'night."

James shut the curtains on his four poster bed and lay on his back, still fully clothed. In only a few hours' time he was going to be at Hogsmeade with the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. That was one way of looking at. Another view niggled at the back of his brain, squirming in his stomach uncomfortably. In only a few hours' time he was going to be at Hogsmeade with the enemy. What would his friends say if they knew? With these restless thoughts, James dropped off into an uneasy sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

He awoke when he heard the others rising and preparing for a day at Hogsmeade. Feigning sleep, he wriggled out of his wrinkled and dirty clothes. He didn't want to be too late—just long enough so that Lupin, Pettigrew, and Black wouldn't see him. As soon as the other fifth years were gone from the dormitory, James lept out of bed and dressed at top speed. He tried to smooth his hair, but it was a hopeless cause. Instead he ruffled it to be even more untidy. Then he grabbed his jingling money bag and headed down to the entrance hall to meet Malia.

"James, hello," Malia said smoothly, smiling at him.

"Hey, Malia," James replied, feeling his stomach lurch. "Ready to go?"

"Yes. I've never been to Hogsmeade before. It's the only all-wizarding village in England, right? I lived in a wizarding village back in America. It was in Canada, and it's hard getting used to this. At least the climate is right. I visited Brazil once and it was so hot, even though it was February."

Malia talked almost constantly, and James listened intently, interjecting approriate comments and being a very attentive listener. Despite the constant talk, Malia was not chattering. She was telling James things that she thought were interesting, things that _were_ interesting, not mindless chatter. The afternoon passed quickly as they poked about the wizarding shops. James could not keep back a grin when a villager warned them to stay away from the Shrieking Shack, as it was severely haunted.

"Let's get a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks." James suggested, wrapping his cloak tighter about him. He was just beginning to notice the cold, for before he had been too intoxicated with Malia's presence. Malia agreed, and the two found a table in the back. It was relatively safe to sit here with Malia, he decided, and he ordered them butterbeers and enjoyed himself immensely.

"Time to go back to the castle, I think," Malia said after a while, pushing back from the table and standing up. "Are you staying for the Christmas holidays?"

"Yeah," James answered immediately, although he had been planning to return home. "How about you?"

"Me too!" Malia said, and James was pleased to see she looked happy about this. "I will see you, then, okay?" Malia smiled at him, and kissed him on the cheek. Before he could respond, she was waving at him from the door as she left.

"Merlin's beard!" James said under his breath, and then he hurried out so he could make it back to the castle before his three friends.

"I can't believe you didn't come to Hogsmeade!" Sirius said thickly, his mouth full of a cream puff. Remus, Peter, and Sirius all displayed a range of new items they had purchased at Zonko's Joke Shop, told James excitedly about the new teashop being built, and recounted their adventures. "So, what did you do all day?"

"Not much," James answered casually. "You guys leaving tomorrow?"

"Yeah, it's holiday, Prongs," Remus said quizically.

"You're coming, too," Sirius added. "I mean, I'm staying with your parents."

"Yes, well, I've decided to stay here at the castle for Christmas," James replied indifferently. "To catch up on my studies and all. I'm going to get more O.W.L.s than you lot at this rate."

It was no suprise that his three friends all eyed each other, exchanging worried glances. Everyone knew that Remus would be the one to get the most O.W.L.s, Sirius and James were intelligent enough but spent as much time reading books as picking their noises, and Peter was just too dumb. Sirius shrugged off this revelation, however.

"I'll stay too, then. A little studying never hurt."

"You can't stay!" James blurted out. "I mean, my parents are expecting you and all. You'll get along fine, don't stay because of me. I doubt I'll be much fun. Studying puts me on edge."

"Right," Sirius said doubtfully, "Are you coming to supper?"

Together they went down to the Great Hall, which was festooned in Christmas decorations. James tried not to look at the Slytherin table, tried to pay attention to some wisecrack Sirius was making. It wasn't working. Of their own will, his eyes wandered over to scan the seated Slytherins, until they lighted upon a radiant face. As if she could feel his gaze, she looked up and smiled. James winked at her and then quickly interjected a comment into the conversation. Just let anyone say that he was involved with a Slytherin.

"Do you think we should tell someone about those spiders we saw last night?" Peter asked nervously, buttering a piece of bread.

"No!" Remus was quick to negate the suggestion, always fearful that Dumbledore would find out about Remus's betrayal of trust. "How would we explain it? Students aren't allowed in the Forbidden Forest, and for good reason. Like those spiders."

"You're right." Peter agreed. "Let's not go back to the Forest anymore. I think we still need a bit more Hogsmeade study."

"We already know so much about Hogsmeade and Hogwarts we could probably make a map," Sirius snorted, biting into a piece of chicken with gusto.

"That's a great idea!" Remus said, his eyes lighting up. "We could make a very good map. And it wouldn't have to be just any old map. We could put ourselves in it, you know? Kind of like, guiding other people who use it."

"The Marauder's Map!" Sirius snapped his fingers. "Got a ring to it."

"If we made it so that only we could read it, or people we told how to!" Despite his preoccupation with Malia, James was interested in this new idea.

"That would be easily accomplished," Remus waved his hand. "The hard part would be what I have in mind. Showing were there are people in the school, using dots or pictures or something."

"Could we make it so they were labeled? With names?" James asked eagerly, picturing it in is mind. "I bet that'd be real hard."

"Hard, yes, but definitely doable." Remus said, rubbing his chin. "I'll get started laying some of the basic enchantments and charms, and then we can all work together on it."

This new scheme gave James something else to think about, like he needed it or something. His mind had been sufficiently distracted from Malia—she was not forgotten, nor was she even pushed to the back. She was simply moved slightly aside to make room for other things. Sirius and his attempt to woo their Potions Professor, The Marauder's Map, their monthly exploits, O.W.L.s, Christmas vacation, large spiders in the Forbidden Forest, and, if this all became to dull, there was always that nasty Severus Snape to torment. Really, life was getting slightly back to normal.


	4. Chapter 4

"This is harder than I expected," Remus said with a frown. "I attempted to use a simple Label Charm here," Remus jabbed at the parchment that the marauders were using to experiment, "but it would only label the species. A bunch of humans and some house-elves in the kitchens. I'm also having trouble making the people markers move exactly as the people are moving."

"So, basically you are saying that making moving and labelled people markers isn't working," Sirius summed it up.

"Yes," Remus admitted. "But, oh! I've just had an idea. What if instead of using a simple Label Charm, I used a True-Seeing Charm combined with a Mirror Charm and then added a Nortian Charm? I think that just might work." Remus began to scribble in the margin of his paper, muttering to himself and at times shaking his head. "Let me go to the library, I've got to check up on some of the wand movements for these. I'll be back."

Without another word, Remus snatched the practice parchment and his wand and hurried off. James watched him go for a moment, half-smiling. Although he and Sirius were quite intelligent, they never had the same grasp on things as Moony. James was much better at Transfiguration than Charms, and he was quite satisfied to let Remus work out the necessary details of the map.

"Well, that leaves us to continue drawing the map," Sirius said, rubbing his hands together. "Peter, were you doing the fourth floor? You've missed a room, a classroom. I think I'm going to add in our favorite hidden passageway. Has anyone drawn in the Whomping Willow yet?"

So the work on the Marauder's Map continued, the three companions hunched over, occasionally speaking to one another and pointing out missed places. The map was beginning to take shape, although work was slow. Hogwarts was a rather large castle, and the grounds were extensive. The work was not unpleasant, however, and all of the marauders were enjoying themselves immensely.

"There you are, Potter!"

Guiltily, all three boys jumped, hastily covering what they were working on. For one wild second James though Malia had come to the Gryffindor common room, but in reality it was just Valerie Norman, a muggleborn sixth year who was the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Why she would be looking for him, he didn't know. There was no Quidditch in the middle of winter, and most of the team would be gone over the holidays anyhow.

"Hello, Valerie," James said pleasantly.

"Look, I don't know if you've heard, but Anders had a bad injury. I'm not sure about the details, I guess it was some serious backfiring magic during Transfiguration. Anyway, he's been sent to St. Mungo's, and now we are short a Chaser."

Larett Anders was the lead point-scorer on any of the four Quidditch teams, and James had not heard about this injury. He was still unsure why Valerie had sought him out. So they were down a Chaser, that wasn't really James's problem. He was the Seeker, and he had no way to improve the situation.

"Merlin's beard, Potter, don't look so bloody confused!" Valerie said, running a hand through her brown hair. She looked very harried and exasperated. "We need a Chaser. There's too much snow to really have any sort of tryout, and we need a well-trained Chaser before our match against Slytherin. It's really early this year, in March, and we'll be lucky if the snow is even half gone."

"Valerie, I still don't know what you want me to do about it." James replied.

"Potter, you're our Seeker. The most important person on the team, and also the least involved." When James opened his mouth to protest, she gave him a glare and pushed on. "So you're able to watch. I know you spend your time looking for the Snitch, but surely you get a good view on the game. I'm a Beater, I don't see anything but Bludgers. We need someone who will be able to work in all our plays that we have, who will get along with everyone. Do you have any suggestions?"

So that was it. All this boiled down to the fact that Valerie needed a new Chaser and she wanted James to choose one. Why she couldn't have just said that in the first place, he didn't know. Now that he understood, however, it wasn't really any better. He didn't have any idea who would make a good replacement Chaser.

"Surely Anders will be back by March," James pointed out. Valerie shook her head.

"That's what I thought. It turns out that he was hit with about three different spells, and none of them were the same, and none of them were done right. Profesor Merika told me that he probably won't be well again until May, and not in Quidditch-playing condition until at least July. So we need someone new."

"What about that one girl, Lucia, who quit the team?" asked James. "Maybe she'll rejoin since we need her."

"Nope, I already asked her. She says she doesn't have the time or the desire," Valerie replied immediately. "Just think about it, okay, Potter?"

"Yeah, sure, Valerie. I'll think about it."

James added finding a new Gryffindor Chaser to his growing list of things to think about. It was going to have to wait, because Remus had just arrived back from the library, looking rather excited. He was carrying a heavy book that had a spiderweb trailing off one corner and was coated in dust. With a _thud!_ he set it down on the table, opening it up and flipping through old, brittle pages.

"Look here!" he exclaimed, pointing at a paragraph halfway down one page. James pulled it nearer to him and squinted.

"'There doth lie a certain uncertainty in our lives that we may perhaps not survive as long as we wouldst desire. Therefore one can produce a charm of the perpetual nature, knownst as the Perpetual Charm, that alloweth ourselves to perpetuate in a certain item.' Remus, what in 'ell does that mean?" James frowned, pushing the old book away from him.

"Exactly what it says!" Remus replied. "We can allow ourselves to perpetuate in our map."

"Perpetuate?" Peter piped up, looking confused.

"Yes," Remus explained patiently. "It means that our personalities, our memories, and a part of ourselves can be a part of the map. People years from now could communicate with the map and be communicating with us, even if we were dead or something."

"This looks really complicated." Sirius said, frowning at the book. He hadn't been listening to Remus but examining the wand movements and words for the charm.

"Not really. As long as you can keep a firm control of your wand, that will get you through this little tricky part. The words aren't too bad, you wouldn't have to memorize them. I think this is great. It'll mean that we can communicate upon request, which would also mean we could explain things about the castle that aren't easily shown in a map."

"It's great, Remus, really great," James replied, yawning. "Now I'm off to bed. Are you guys going on the train tomorrow morning?"

"Yes," Remus and Peter answered. James fixed Sirius with a stern eye. He added reluctantly, "Yes."

"Alright then, I'll see you after the hols. This can wait until then, I don't feel like working on it by myself. Here, you can keep the stuff, Remus. G'night."


	5. Chapter 5

When James awoke the next morning, it was to an empty dormitory. The five other fifth years had all gone home for Christmas—Peter, Remus, Sirius, and the Bradburg twins. Silence stretched through the dormitory, and James revelled in it. This was the sound of his freedom from pretense. Of course he would miss his friends, but nothing could dampen his spirits when he remembered that Malia was staying for the holidays.

Humming softly to himself, James pulled on his clothing, combing his hair in a futile attempt to make it lay flat. He ducked out of view of the mirror before it could make some snide comment about his hair, which it enjoyed doing on a daily basis. He ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up a bit more. Maybe he would go out and practice with a Snitch. His Cleansweep 3 was in his trunk, waiting to be used. The thought of the biting cold and blowing snow, however, deterred him from going outdoors. Instead he made his way to the Great Hall for a bite of breakfast.

"James!"

James paused with his foot in midair, swiveling his head about to see who had spoken his name. He thought for just a heartbeat that it was Lily Evans, for he spotted a head of red hair. As he looked longer he realized that it was Professor Merika, divested of her normal blue robes, wearing black instead, just like a student. James put his foot down on the ground and waited, slightly puzzled.

"Oh, thank goodness I've caught up with you!" she said, smiling at him. James was struck again about how strange it was that she was a professor, and a Head of House. She had been Head Girl when James was a second year, and he had played on the Gryffindor Quidditch team with her. She had been their Keeper.

"What is it, Professor?" he asked.

"James! You can call me Nylene, it's not like we're strangers or anything. Anyway, I just wanted to talk to you about your friend Sirius."

"Sirius?" James frowned. As far as he knew, Sirius hadn't been in any sort of trouble lately. "What about Sirius?"

"Well," Nylene looked slightly awkward. "His Potions work has dropped significantly in the past week. A week ago, he was one of the better students in the class. Now, his potions never turn out right, he always forgets crucial steps, and his attention wanders freely."

"I hadn't noticed," James lied, remembering that Sirius was attempting to get into Remedial Potions. "He's never been too brilliant at Potions. Remus and I have always helped him."

"That's a lie, James, and you know it! I'm not stupid, I know what Sirius is up to. I'm very young—I daresay you remember me as Head Girl. You were what, only a second year then? Yes, I remember, I was surprised that you were picked for the Seeker. Anyway, I would just like you to inform Sirius that if his Potions work does not pick up, I will be forced to give him a partner who is very apt in the art of Potions, a Slytherin boy named Severus Snape. Could you just pass that along, James?"

"You'll partner him with _Snape_?" James roared. Sirius and Snape loathed each other with intense passion—it was the same loathing that Snape and James had for each other. To partner them would be certain murder. "You can't do that!"

"I can and will, James. Please inform Mr. Black."

"Sure," James agreed weakly. "I'll tell him, Nylene."

She nodded and swept off into the Great Hall, leaving James staring at her in shock. Sirius would not give up, James knew, and neither could he abide to be partnered with Snivellus. It was a matter that would require planning on Sirius's part, and James turned abruptly from the entrance to the Great Hall and started off towards the Owlery. He would send Sirius an owl about it, and then he would be able to think of something in time for the new term.

"James!"

James scowled at the floor, thinking that it was Professor Merika back to add something to her warning. With a sign he turned about to face her, an angry retort ready on his lips. To his surprise, it was not his Potions Professor. It was Malia.

"Where are you going?" Malia asked, catching up to James.

"To the Owlery," James replied, smiling at her.

"Who are you sending an owl to?"

"My friend Sirius. You may have seen him around. He's got black hair and he's the bane of every teacher's existence."

"Sirius Black? He's rather good-looking isn't he?" Malia asked.

"Not really." James scowled. "Doesn't have enough brains to fill an eggcup."

James was startled to see a slow smile spreading across Malia's face. He was rather at a loss to what she was finding so amusing, and he had to resist the temptation to storm off. This was Malia, she was practically at a higher plane of existence. If she found things amusing when James was filled with anger, well, that was his fault, not hers.

"Oh, James!" Malia said, looking delighted. "I can't believe it!"

"Believe what?" James asked, completely confused.

"You're _jealous, _aren't you?"

This was not at all what James had been expecting, and he was momentarily at a loss for words. He stared at Malia, blinking.

"_Jealous?_" James spluttered. "Me? Jealous? Of Sirius? Not a chance."

Malia didn't say anything, just laughed. Her laugh reminded James of silver bells, pealing across the countryside. Normally he was not given to such poetic nonsense, but there was really no other way to describe the perfectness of Malia. He was jealous, he admitted to himself. Jealous that she would say Sirius was good-looking. It was true, of course. Sirius had long been sought after by the Hogwarts female population, and it had never bothered James before. But Malia was _his_, she had no business talking about how good-looking _Sirius_ was.

"I'll go with you to the Owlery," Malia said, still looking amused. "I've got to send an owl to my mother."

"Where is your family staying?" James asked.

"Oh, they're still back in Canada." Malia waved a hand. "That's why I'm staying here for the holidays. I'll be going back for summer, of course."

"Why'd you come to Hogwarts? It seems like an awfully long ways to come for school. Surely there are plenty of schools in America?"

"Plenty," Malia agreed. "I attended the Wendelin Academy of Magical Arts, founded by Wendelin the Weird. It was a very large school, however, and my mother didn't think that it was a good place to learn magic. I went to the Brazil National School of Magic for my third year, but it was an awful place."

James remembered that Malia had not liked the climate there, and he nodded in understanding. She smiled back at him and fell silent, and James was content to simply watch her as they climbed stairs together towards the Owlery. It was not an awkward silence, but a comfortable familiarity with one another. James felt like he had known her for years.

"Do you have an owl?" Malia asked when they reached the Owlery.

"Yes, I've got a barn owl, Winger. He's one of the fastest owls." James whistled a low note and a handsome owl flew down and landed on his arm.

"Really?" Malia sounded impressed. "Nora is an eagle owl, I've had her for years."

"Just a moment, I've got to scribble this out." James wiped a patch of floor clean from straw, owl droppings, and mouse skeletons, and set a scrap of parchment down. He fished around in his pocket until he came up with a bent quill and a small bottle of ink.

_Sirius,_ he wrote, _Professor Merika has talked to me. She knows what you are up to and she says if your Potion work doesn't improve, she'll partner you with Snivellus because he's good at Potions. Hope you're well, and my parents. James._

"Here you go, Winger." James attached the message to the barn owl's leg. "Take this to Sirius. He should be at home."

Winger nipped affectionately at James's finger and then soared out of a window, quickly disappearing from sight. Malia had produced a rather long letter from her pocket, tied with a yellow ribbon. Her eagle owl, Nora, was waiting impatiently with her leg stuck out as Malia fumbled to attach the letter.

"Allow me," James said, smoothly taking the ribbon from her hands. In a matter of seconds it was done, and Malia smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, James. Off you go, Nora. Take this to mother. I know it's a long ways but I'll give you a treat when you come back."

Nora clucked and took off through the same window that Winger had exited through. Malia and James watched them go together, and James was vastly pleased to discover that Malia's hand had somehow found its way into his.

"James, you shouldn't be jealous of Sirius," Malia said quietly. "You're the one I like."

_She's a Slytherin!_ James reminded himself sternly, but he could not muster up the will to care. Malia Lessknot, the most beautiful and perfect girl in the whole world, liked _him_! Liked him more than Sirius, which was an amazing thing.


	6. Chapter 6

"I cannot believe it of even you, Potter." Severus Snape's eyes glinted.

"Oh, shut up, _Snivellus_!" James retorted, reaching a hand into his pocket to grab his wand. Snape did the same.

"Snogging in the Owlery!"

"It's none of your business, Snape!" James roared, pointing his wand directly at Snape's forehead. "Say _one more word_ and I swear I'll do it."

"Potter! Snape!" The curt voice of Professor Delanor cut through the tension. James relaxed his wand, pointing it towards the floor, and Snape took a step backwards. "Dueling in the halls! Ten points from Gryffindor, ten points from Slytherin!"

James contemplated for a moment arguing with his former Head of House, but he decided against it. He murmured something unintelligble and stalked away down the hall. He wondered where Malia had gone to—she'd positively fled when Snape had turned up in the Owlery. Probably horrified to be seen with a Gryffindor.

Having nothing better to do, James headed back to the Gryffindor common room, deciding that he might as well get a little studying in. His large Charms book quickly induced a level of extreme lethargy, and James could hardly hold his eyes on the page, staring at the same spot. He should be doing something useful with himself, but he wasn't quite sure what. Revenge on Snape sounded tantalizing, but the cowardly fool had probably retreated to the Slytherin common room. James wondered if Professor Merika had told him about her pending punishment for Sirius. Probably not.

"Prongs!" It was Peter, bursting in through the potrait hole. "Come quick!"

James didn't even have time to question Peter as to why he was still at Hogwarts instead of being on the Hogwarts Express. He jumped to his feet and raced after him, struggling through the potrait hole and sprinting down the halls after him. When they arrived at the Entrance Hall, he was stunned to see it full of students.

"James, there you are!" It was Remus, appearing suddenly at James's elbow. "Come on, it's Sirius!"

"Sirius? Moony, what's going on? Why are you all here?" James questioned as he was hauled through the press of students. Then he saw it— Sirius was lying on the floor, his face deathly white.

"Padfoot!" James exclaimed, dropping to his knees. Blood was flowing from a gash on his leg that looked deep and painful. "Where's Madame Pomfrey?"

Remus shook his head, frowning. "She's attending to someone who broke their arm. You need to do something."

"Why me?" James asked. "I can't do anything about this!"

"Yes, you can, you have to!" Peter said, looking alarmed. "Dumbledore told us not to do anything. He said we're too shaken to be trusted with magic."

"Dumbledore?" James was getting more confused by the moment. "He's gone, he won't be back until term starts."

"He's here, but that doesn't matter, James! You have to do something for Sirius, and quickly."

"Uh, right." James pulled out his wand and gave a negligent wave. A roll of gauze appeared, and he ignored the small 'wow' of wonder from Peter. "He needs to be taken to the bathroom, come on, let's carry him."

"We can't!" Peter sounded extremely nervous. "We can't do anything, Dumbledore said!"

"Fine!" James snapped. "_Mobilicorpus_." Sirius's body rose into the air and James used his wand to float him to the nearest bathroom, which happened to be a girl's toilet. Moving quickly, he turned on the taps and found some towels and soap. Without speaking to any of the crowd who had followed him, James attempted to clean out the wound with water and soap. He managed to get the flecks of dirt out, but blood continued to flow.

Another wave of his wand brought a box of bandages and tape to the floor near him. He pulled out several lengths of bandaging and covered the gash, hoping that he was indeed doing this correctly. With swift movements he wrapped the gauze around the bandage to hold it in place, securing the ends with tape. It was, of course, a shabby job worthy of a Muggle, but it was the best he could do. The bleeding seemed to have slowed, and Sirius regained a little color in his face.

"_Mobilicorpus._ Alright, I'm going to take him to the hospital wing so Madame Pomfrey can attend to him. This work won't hold up of long."

All the time that James was moving Sirius, he pushed away the questions that were clamoring to be let out. Once Sirius was safely ensconced in a hospital bed, however, James could hold back no longer. He turned to Remus and Peter.

"What's going on? Why was Sirius injured? Why is Dumbledore back early? Why did that kid break his arm? _Why are you here_?" Even though his own lack of information wasn't really their fault, James felt anger mounting within him and he unleashed it upon them.

"Dumbledore will explain. Come on, we're supposed to be in the Great Hall, everyone else has already gone." Remus and Peter grabbed ahold of James's arms and began to drag him away from where Sirius lay.

James tried to protest that he was dirty, covered in Sirius's blood, tired, and not in the least bit interested to be hearing this from Dumbledore. His two friends, however, would hear nothing of this and continued to tug and pull on him. Finally James gave in and all three loped through the hallways until they arrived at the Great Hall. The rest of the students were already seated there, craning their necks to look at where Dumbledore sat. James spotted Malia at the Slytherin table and gave her a wink, which she returned.

"What's that?" Peter asked, pointing at a lumpy object sitting on the table.

"The Sorting Hat, it looks like," James answered. "I don't know why though."

"Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, Slytherins, and Gryffindors." Silence fell in the Hall as Dumbledore got to his feet. "Many of you are here today against expectations. For those of you who were not returning home for the holidays, let me explain. This morning the Hogwarts Express derailed and crashed into the countryside. Thankfully, the injuries sustained by students were few. Gregory Martin broke his arm, Sirius Black was cut by broken glass, and Valerie Norman suffered a strike to the head that rendered her unconscious. None of these injuries are serious and will all be rectified by Madame Pomfrey.

"The rest of you, while uninjured physically, are extremely shaken. None of us ever expected the Hogwarts Express to fail. It has, however, and I trust that you will all enjoy your stay here at Hogwarts through the holidays. The train is being repaired and will not be ready to be used until spring. This unexpected accident made me decide to cut short my, ah, visit with the Wizengamot. This does mean that I can announce to you that Professor Delanor has retired as Head of the Gryffindor House. Professor Merika, I am delighted to inform you, has consented to fill the position."

"That's just great," James muttered. "The Hogwarts Express _derailed_? Isn't it like magical or something?"

"Yeah, it is," Remus agreed. "You know, have you heard?"

"Heard what?" Peter asked.

"About _someone_." Remus nodded emphatically as if that explained it all.

"Yes, I did!" Peter sounded delighted to know what was going on. "A new Dark Wizard. Do you know his name?"

"No," Remus admitted. "I hadn't heard."

"I did," James added, finally realizing what they were talking about. "_Voldemort_."

"The Ministry will take care of him in a second." Peter waved a hand negligently. "I wish Dumbledore would hurry up. I'm starving."

"Some of you may see that I have the Sorting Hat here with me," Dumbledore continued. " Some of you may know why. We have a new student with us this year, and I am excited to allow her to be Sorted now. Malia Lessknot, please come forward!"

James could only stare as Malia stood, a fluid movement that made many heads turn towards her. James was certainly not the only one who had noticed her beauty, and it made him feel quite proud to think that _he_ was the one she had snogged in the Owlery with. The best of it was that she _wasn't_ a Slytherin! She wasn't even Sorted yet!

"I thought she was a Slytherin," James said casually to Remus.

"No," Remus shook his head. "Didn't you know? She couldn't be Sorted because Dumbledore was gone."

"Oh, yeah," James agreed casually, but inwardly his heart was soaring. Malia Lessknot was _not_ a Slytherin!

"She might be Sorted to Slytherin, though, since she's spent so much time with them," Remus mused, watching Malia's progress as she approached the staff table where Dumbledore sat.

"Malia, please place this hat upon your head."

Malia nodded, her magnificent hair shining in the winter sunlight streaming in through the ceiling. She set the delapidated hat upon her head, closing her eyes and waiting with a hint of a smile on her face. James was clenching his fist so hard that his fingernails were biting through his skin. _Not a Slytherin!_ he wished, staring fixedly at Malia.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat roared to the student body, and a great explosion of noise burst from the Gryffindor table. James grinned, relaxing visibly. Malia was a Gryffindor! She was walking to their - her - table now, her strides long and graceful. Before James could even think about where she would sit, she was next to him, asking Lily Evans to scoot over. Lily did so without blinking, and Malia took a seat.

"Congratulations, Malia!" James told her, and she gave him a beautiful smile. James was aware that some people were still watching, including Severus Snape from the Slytherin table. In front of all these people, Malia kissed James before settling down to eat the food that had appeared before them.

"Prongs!" It was Sirius, looking healthier and more fit already. "She's a looker!"

"Thank you, Padfoot." James spared no more time to converse with his best friend - he could hear Malia's smooth voice starting to speak.

"You know, it's a shame that I've come midyear," Malia said, taking a large bit of a potato. "I would have liked to try out for the Quidditch team. I'm a fair Chaser."

"A Chaser?" James repeated. "That's wonderful!"

"Wonderful?" Malia looked confused. "Why?"

"Because Valerie - that's our captain - asked me to find her a new Chaser. One of our Chasers, Larett Anders, got a nasty dose of Transfiguration and is at St. Mungo's."

"St. Mungo's?" Malis asked.

"The hospital," James explained. "We've already played Hufflepuff, we beat them 170 to nothing. I caught the Snitch in about two seconds. Out next match is against Slytherin. Valerie will be thrilled when I tell her. You will do it, won't you?"

"Of course!" Malia sounded delighted. "That works out well!"

James quite agreed. Everything was working out well, really. Malia was a Gryffindor, he'd found a Chaser, the marauders were together for the holidays to work on their map, Sirius was not going to be taking Remedial Potions, Snape hadn't gotten a chance to curse him in weeks, he would never be returning to the Forbidden Forest and those nasty spiders again, and he'd studied for a whole five minutes. Everything was working out really really well.

Epilogue: Sirius Black's work in Potions increased so much as to surpass it's former level. Malia Lessknot became Gryffindor's Chaser and helped them defeat Slytherin in the March match, 240-60. Larett Anders recovered from his bout of spell damage only weeks afterwards. Malia's mother fell ill and Malia left Hogwarts to return to Wendelin Academy. Although James Potter was very sad to see her go, Sirius was happy to point out that Lily Evans was still single. The marauders finished their fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in fine style.

THE END

A/N Thanks to everyone who read this! Please review as I like to know what people thought of my work. This is an older piece that I wrote a year or two ago, so I know it's not that great. My newer stuff (The Next Generation) is better I think. Thanks for reading! Nora


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